Singapore Professor Denied Tenure, Sparks Academic Freedom Debate

SINGAPORE—A Singaporean university has denied tenure for a second time to an outspoken journalism professor known for his critical political commentary, prompting some scholars and students to accuse the school of curtailing academic freedom.

CherianGeorge.net

The denial of tenure for a journalism professor, Cherian George (pictured), is renewing debate about academic freedom in Singapore.

They say that the Nanyang Technological University has no grounds for refusing to grant a permanent position to Cherian George, an academic who they say has produced acclaimed work on Singaporean media and politics. Mr. George, an associate professor of journalism, had his first tenure application rejected in 2009.

The accusations have revived debate over academic freedom in Singapore, a tightly regulated city-state that imposes restrictions on public assembly and limitations on free speech.

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NTU’s decision was first reported Sunday by Cardiff University journalism professor Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, who had reviewed Mr. George’s application as an external expert. Calling the decision “an outrage” on her Twitter page, Ms. Wahl-Jorgensen described Mr. George as “one of the foremost public intellectuals in Singapore [who was] denied tenure because he sometimes expresses political opinions.”

Her statements prompted the ire of other journalism scholars and many of Mr. George’s students, past and present. Over 800 people have signed a petition to the university’s administrators, asking them to explain the decision and answer allegations of “political discrimination.”

“These are serious allegations that will affect the global reputation of the university, and the onus is on the university to categorically dispel them,” said Bhavan Jaipragas, an NTU journalism undergraduate who delivered the petition and met with university officials on Thursday. Mr. Bhavan said further meetings will be held to discuss the matter.

NTU declined to comment on Mr. George’s case, but said in a statement that it has “a rigorous tenure process…[that] is purely a peer-driven academic exercise comprising internal and external reviewers.”

“Distinction in research and scholarship, and high quality teaching” are key criteria, while NTU also considers contributions to the university, the profession, or the wider community, it said. Of the more than 1,000 faculty who applied for tenure in the last six years, over 55% were successful.

The Singapore government declined to wade in on the matter. In response to queries from The Wall Street Journal, the manpower ministry said it doesn’t regulate universities’ tenure processes, while the education ministry merely said that “tenure decisions are made by the autonomous universities.”

NTU policy allows faculty a maximum of two attempts for tenure. Mr. George, who won the university’s top award for teaching excellence for 2009, has until next week to appeal the decision.

Mr. George declined to comment and it isn’t clear if he intends to appeal. He joined NTU in 2004 and was promoted to associate professor in 2009. But the university didn’t award him tenure then, despite its stated policy of normally granting tenure to academics when promoting them to full or associate professorship.

A former journalist with a doctorate from Stanford and degrees from Cambridge and Columbia, Mr. George has regularly published critiques of the local media and the ruling People’s Action Party. He has also penned books describing the Singapore government’s strong influence over the local media, nearly all of which are state-linked.

The allegations made over Mr. George’s case aren’t the first time NTU has been criticized over perceived unfairness in its awarding of tenure. In 2009, a group of NTU faculty lodged complaints to the university over what they claimed was an unfair and opaque process, but the university dismissed their claims as baseless.

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